Jersey Super League 2021

Before my race I watched all the pros racing their Super League race including many inspirational British figures such as Johnny Brownlee and Alex Yee, knowing only a couple of hours after their race I also would be racing on the same course . As I walked onto the pontoon for the start I thought I was as prepared as I could be for the race , however after the announcer said five minutes to go until race start I released I didn't have a timing chip therefore had to run to a marshal to ask for a replacement. I hope I won't ever make the same mistake again, as it wasn't great rushing around literally 2 minutes before the race started, but at least it got the adrenaline going!

The start of the swim was chaotic to say the least. I was placed on the right of the pontoon which wasn't great, as the buoy placement favoured the people to the left rather than the right, making the sprint to the first buoy even harder. As the horn went off I managed to get a good dive into the water , however it all seemed to go downhill from there to the first buoy. I was pushed around several times causing me to be at the back of the field going round the first buoy, however somehow I managed to find some arms and made up many positions before the finish of the swim and I came out in sixth which was one of my best swims in triathlon ever only being around a second or two behind the lead swimmer.

As soon as you got out from of the swim there was a 20 percent gradient incline for about 50 meters into transition which really hurt the legs, however I managed to retain my position. I had quite a good transition, therefore gaining two places and putting me in 4th going out onto the bike . I quickly managed to get into the lead on the first lap as the course suited me with its technical turns, and I stayed in a small pack of around 4 going into the second lap to which I came into T2 2nd.

On the run I felt quite strong and managed to stay in 2nd for its entirety .I made sure to carefully put my swim hat on the move, as the last thing I wanted to happen was for me to drop it and have to run back and get it. Running into the second swim was quite an experience, as never before had I ran into a swim  again following a triathlon. I couldn't really feel my arms at all for the whole of the swim, therefore luckily only dropped one position staying with the person who overtook me into transition.

After a fumble at the mount line I lost a couple of seconds to the person in front who was now in 2nd position, and also was around 5 seconds behind 1st place. I managed to catch up to 2nd after the first lap and managed to get a slight lead of around a second into T2. I once again had a really fast transition and caught up with the first place athlete, however I couldn't stick with them as my running simply wasn't fast enough on the day, therefore settled for 2nd place which was still a great achievement.

Date: 18th September 2021